Gear Check: Peregrine Gaming Glove

So I'm going to be taking over and doing my own tech review this time, because I was excited about this product and I didn't want Miyari to get the only one, like she did with that Razer Naga!

This time I've got ahold of a Peregrine Gaming Glove. These things are new, you can't buy them yet—although you can pre-order them from the Peregrine website. Join me after the break while we put this thing through it's paces!

What Is It?

Apologies for my terrible camera.

I must admit my initial hope when I first got the package in the mail was that this would be a Minority Report style interface—you could wave your fingers around in crazy patterns and use it to manipulate the cursor—a replacement for the mouse. Unfortunately, this is still science fiction (although we get a little bit closer every day). What the Peregrine actually is, in fact, is a replacement for the keyboard.

The Peregrine is a thin, lightweight glove that fits over the left hand. There are three silver contact panels—one directly over the tip of the thumb, one on the pad of the thumb, and one in the palm. There are also small, flexible coils of contact wire that run up and down each finger—you manipulate the computer by touching one of the silver panels to one of the touchpoints on the wire. There are 18 touchpoints on the fingers—five on the index, middle and ring fingers and three on the little finger, for a total of 40 possible keypresses. It's a wired accessory (the website indicates they have plans for a wireless version, but currently they use wires because of the superior performance), connecting to your system with a proprietary USB cable. The connection pod (pictured above) snaps into the back of the glove with magnets, so it's easy to pop the pad off if you have to get up from your PC. It has ventilated panels in the palm and one the fingers so you don't get sweaty, and a velcro clasp on the wrist.

How Does It Work?

The first time you plug in the Peregrine, you install and run some simple calibration/keymapping software to set up your keybindings. Please note: The software I tested worked fine on XP, but didn't work on Windows 7 (I didn't get the chance to test it on Vista). This is a test version of the software, though, so I can't imagine that won't be fixed before release. They've also mentioned that they have OS X software on the way, but it isn't complete yet. Fortunately (since I have a Mac), the keymaps are actually stored on the glove itself, meaning you can carry it over to any system that accepts a USB keyboard, no matter what operating system—and it will work perfectly. I had to borrow an XP system from a friend in order to do the initial setup process, but once I did the glove worked flawlessly on my MacBook Pro.

Actually using the glove is a bizarre experience. At first, you feel a little silly trying to control your game by fluttering your fingers. It definitely takes a little while to get used to, both in stretching the form of the glove to fit your hand (some of the contacts are a little stiff) and in retraining yourself to control your game in a totally different way. Once your instincts are retrained, though—and once you've found a keymapping scheme you like—it actually feels remarkably natural. Instead of reaching for your keyboard and hoping you click the right button, you just touch your fingers together. Your muscle sense tells your fingers where to go, rather than relying on looking at the keyboard or memorizing the location of home row by feel. It's faster, and (with practice) more accurate than a keyboard. It also gets you flexing different muscles which in the long term will likely be a big help to gamers who have developed keyboard related stress injuries, like carpal tunnel or tendonitis.

The Final Word

The Peregrine is a whole new way of controlling your game system, and as such it naturally won't be for everyone. It's different, and some people may have a hard time with that. If you spend a little while training yourself to play this way, though—pairing the glove with a good gaming mouse (especially the Naga, since it has those extra buttons), and spend some time really tweaking your keybindings and macros to get the most out of them, this could be a really powerful piece of gaming hardware—and most of all it's fun. As more people use it—making it easier for you to download sample keymaps, macros, and other support to help you get the most out of the glove—this will become hardware for all gamers, as well as the early adopters.

Comment by VeniVidiVici

Comment by Erethzium

Comment by Alcotraz

Looks nice but at the same time quite expensive for sure. Now all we need is a replacement for the Mouse and bye bye filled up desk. Only disadvantage I can think of:

You'd have to take the glove off continuously and put it back on if you wanted to go too far from your computer (bathroom/kitchen for example).

Comment by Sucura

on 2010/03/04 16:35:24

Is it possible to record a short video of how it works?

I can't imagine how you're going to walk as you can basically only push your thumb on fingers. Unless you can actually like, stick your index and middle finger against each other (with the sides) to do a keystroke?

Comment by Erethzium

on 2010/03/04 16:37:48

You'd have to take the glove off continuously and put it back on if you wanted to go too far from your computer (bathroom/kitchen for example).

Um...no.

The connection pod (pictured above) snaps into the back of the glove with magnets, so it's easy to pop the pad off if you have to get up from your PC.

The "Connection Pod" is that silver square thing with the black symbol on it. You simply pull it off, and bam, the glove is disconnected and you can walk away.

Comment by Alcotraz

on 2010/03/04 16:45:40

You'd have to take the glove off continuously and put it back on if you wanted to go too far from your computer (bathroom/kitchen for example).

Um...no.

The connection pod (pictured above) snaps into the back of the glove with magnets, so it's easy to pop the pad off if you have to get up from your PC.

Oh. Lol oops. Thanks for clarifying. Guess I wasn't paying that much attention after all.

Comment by DWilly92

on 2010/03/04 16:59:57

Yes this looks really really good, ive preordered mine about 2 weeks ago, found out about it from an add from the curse client, and i can't wait to test it out! For the people that don't know, this will work with anything your keyboard can do, if its After Effects, Auto-CAD, Photoshop, you name it! it replaces keyboard function, and best of all, you can still use your keyboardand drink, or do whatever you use your left hand for, WHILE wearing the glove, we are well on our way to very very realistic VR <3

Comment by TheReal

on 2010/03/04 19:05:38

/macro touchPalm/y %^&* YOU!

Comment by DWilly92

on 2010/03/04 22:47:11

@ slaytanic, i dunno if you just are an attention #$%^&, but, this isn't the place complain about the looks of something everyone else whos commented likes, your negativity isn't valued here, sorry,

Comment by MasterOutlaw

on 2010/03/04 22:52:13

As long as it works better than everyone's favorite Power Glove...

Comment by TheReal

on 2010/03/04 22:52:47

@ slaytanic, i dunno if you just are an attention #$%^&, but, this isn't the place complain about the looks of something everyone else whos commented likes, your negativity isn't valued here, sorry,

Comment by lithi

Comment by Hyperspacerebel

on 2010/03/05 08:59:36

The problem I see is that it would not work well with any game that involves WASD movement, nor any game that requires several buttons to be pushed in short amounts of time. You'll notice that on their main website the only game they demo it on is WC3 which is simply point and click with only a "handful" (har har har) of abilities on the keyboard.